J/80 Worlds Marseilles Preview

(Marseilles, France)- With 119 teams participating in this year's J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France, it look like the J/80s have again set the record for the most Worlds with 70+ boat fleets for any International ISAF one-design keelboat class-- four Worlds over the last ten years, quite a remarkable achievement!

The J/80 dominates the European one-design racing circuits and France, in particular, where it is by far the most favored racer-cruiser. Indeed the Coupe de France (French Cup) circuit, organized by the French J/80 class, has nearly 200 boats that participate in the circuit of ten events every year.

The City of Marseille is hosting the event in a remarkable setting; a wide-open gateway to the Mediterranean and the second largest city in France, Marseille is a multi-cultural metropolis with international influence.  Furthermore, Marseille is the European Capital of Culture in 2013 with a great many events organized as part of the celebration.

From the sailors perspective, Marseille is at the centre of water-sports in the Mediterranean with a fabulous sailing area, recognized as one of the finest in France thanks to its 2 natural bays, a vast, protected race area, easily accessible from the harbor, and its steady sea-breezes.  No wonder major sailing events have been sailed in Marseilles; including the America’s Cup circuit, the World Sailing Games, the World Match Racing circuit (on J/80s no less), the Medcup and the MOD 70 European Tour in 70 foot multihulls.

The sailing schedule starts with a the practice race Monday, July 8th followed by five days of racing with up to three races per day, concluding Saturday, July 13th.  With 119 teams from 12 countries (France, Spain, USA, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Switzerland, Russia, and Oman) many will be looking to see how well they've improved their performance over the past year of sailing and training with their boats.  No question, there will be some new faces that will surprise some in the top ten and the event may possibly be the first to dethrone the "Spanish armada" that have dominated the past few J/80 Worlds.

As the most recent World Champions, the Spanish are determined to retain the title but the chances of sweeping the top three spots on the podium may be more difficult this time.  They're sending seventeen boats with many of their top teams, including the current World Champion José María Van der Ploeg sailing FACTOR ENERGIA; past World Champions Rayco Tabares on HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA and Carlos Martinez on ZHIK/ NOVASAIL; and Volvo 70 TELEFONICA star and World 49er Champion Iker Martinez sailing ENBATA 80. That's a formidable group of sailors!

The French are countering with many top teams, including Eric Brezellec's INTERFACE CONCEPT, Simon Moriceau's INTERFACE CONCEPT II, Vincent Vandekerkhove, Pierre-Loïc Berthet at the helm of Nicolas Lunven's GENERALI, Laurent Sambron's ATLANTIS, Luc Nadal on GAN'JA and the team of Arthur Herreman/ Romain Bethune sailing MATCH THE WORLD!

The next strongest group of teams may be the British and Swedish teams.  The Swedish teams include Anders Rosenberg sailing DYNAMANT, Ingemar Sundstedt, and Lars Gellerhed on MK-PRODUKTER.  The British teams include Jon Powell's BETTY, Patrick Liardet sailing AQUA-J, Allen Higgs skippering JUICY, and Stew Hawthorn sailing J'AI DEUX AMOURS- all very strong teams with a shot at the podium and certainly the top ten.

Highlights of leading teams from other countries include the lone American team sailing- Brian Keane's SAVASANA; top Netherlands team sailed by Laura Vroon on JOI DE VIVRE; Thomas Dehler's ANEGADA from Germany; Massimo Rama's JENIALE! from Italy; Asrar Al Ajmi sailing TEAM AL THURAYA BANK MUSCAT from Oman (the first Omani team to sail a J/80 Worlds); Pawel Boksa on MOONRAKER from Poland; Maxim Kuzmin on J-BLUE 8 from Russia (the first Russian J/80 team to sail a Worlds); and Yannick Preitner sailing POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE from Switzerland.

The Worlds promise to be another competitive, if not epic event for the 119 teams sailing for the next week!  Marseilles weather can be capricious if fronts are moving quickly across continental Europe, especially if some of the classic "mistral" conditions kick in and blow cold, strong winds out of the lower French Alps!  Shifty winds and massive blasts rolling off the mountains can be quite a challenge in the Bay of Marseille.

Meanwhile, here's a YouTube of a French team recently practicing in windy, wavy conditions off Marseille.  Looks like they had some fun learning how to gybe better in the big breeze!  Watch on YouTube here.   Spanish Sailing Photos- Jesus Renedo / Trofeo Conde de Godo and Elena Martinez / RCMS.  For more J/80 Worlds sailing information

JENIALE Three-Peats J/80 Italian's!

(Sestri Levante, Italy)- This year's J/80 Italian National Championships hosted in Sestri Levante saw a good fleet of eleven teams participating from Italy, Poland and Germany.  The three day regatta saw an enormous variety of weather conditions challenge the fleet, from 15 to 30 kt winds on the first day to freezing cold on the second day to epic, beautiful weather for the finale on Sunday.

Friday's racing saw southerly breezes gusting over 20 kts with tough conditions sailing upwind in the puffy winds, but fantastic planing conditions downwind for the fleet!  After three races the fleet was exhausted.  After the first day's racing, it was RAPISARDI skippered by Taito Sanchez that was leading, following by the Polish team on MOONRAKER and in third was BLUE 8 (their first regatta in J/80s).  After all the heavy duty sailing, the crews retired to the nearby Yacht Club Chiavari for the evening for excellent local Italian food, delicious wines and evening entertainment.

The second day of racing was very special for many sailors.  It was overcast, cold, with snow on the mountains in the hinterlands.  And, the big waves/swell came from the southwest with 15-18 kt winds at approximately 300 degrees. In the end, it became a perfect day for sailing! Three races more beautiful and more competitive than the one before. The first race was won by JENIALE skippered by Massimo Rama, followed by RAPISARDI and the Polish team of Pawel Boksa.  After three races, the team of Taito Sanchez was still leading, chased by a group of teams that included MOONRAKER, JENIALE!, J-BLUE 8 and MONTPRES PAUL MONTEDONICO.  After the second day of sailing, the evening dinner on the promenade of Sestri for all crews was lots of fun.

For the final day of sailing on Sunday, the Tigullio Bay was amazing- sun, waves, gentle southerly breezes of 10-12 kts.  Perfect.  The Race Committee started on time and managed to produce three races!  In the end, JENIALE! managed to get three firsts to secure their third J/80 Italian Championship.  Congratulations to Rama's crew with Anne-Soizic Bertin, Eva Gonzalez, Pier Giorgio and Cristina Matteini.  Next step for the top Italians teams is the J/80 Worlds in July sailing in Marseille, France!  For more J/80 Italian Nationals sailing information

JENIALE Takes Tigullio J/80 Championship

(Tigullio, Italy)- This past weekend, the 37th Winter Championship Tigullio took place that saw the JENIALE team take the overall regatta series title.  In a battle for J/80 Italian supremacy that took place from November 2012 to February 2013, it was clear the Massimo Rama's JENIALE team worked hard to maintain their edge and stay near the front of the fleet to prevail in the end as Champion.

The last series of racing was difficult for the crews, with cold weather and a 15+ kts wind, perfect sailing with a bit of chill in the air. And this time, after a series of nine first places, JENIALE had to settle for second place, beaten by Sanchez and crew. After them followed JBES of Garibotto with Enrica Capizzi driving and JBLU2 skippered by Maria Cristina Rapisardi.  The final standings saw Massimo Rama's JENIALE! finish in the lead, followed by TWT, JBES, JBlu2, and Montpres.

The J/80 Italian sailing season continues with the Championship of Santa Margherita, then next Sunday in May with Marina Yachting Trophy and the J/80 Italian National Championship in Sestri Levante.

For the March 9-10 weekend the BLUPROJECT will provide its 9 J/80's for the European Cup, an event organized to allow a one-design challenge amongst the teams/crews that are winners in the IRC, ORC, J/80 classes in the Championship of Tigullio.  This promises to be a fabulous event to be sailed amongst champions in the J/80 class!   For more J/80 Italy sailing information

J/80 Italy Race Training

(Tigullio, Italy)-  The New Year's festivities have come and gone, but the competitive activity for the J/80 sailors have never ceased!  In fact, J/80 racing is continuing with 10 boats participating in the Winter Championship Tigullio, clear evidence of good class growth and participation.  The next event for the Winter Championship in Santa Margherita Ligure started on February 3rd.  Then in the second half of May the fleet will be primarily engaged in sailing these two events before the Worlds Marseille in July:
- May 18-19- Marina Yachting Trophy- Chiavari, Italy
- May 24-26- J/80 Italian Championship- Sestri Levante, Italy
For more J/80 Italy class and sailing information

Championship of Champions- Italian Style!

(Genoa, Italy)- The 37th Gulf of Tigullio Winter Championship began on Sunday, November 11, 2012; it's the annual sailing circuit organized by The Committee of the Tigullio Sailing Clubs chaired by Franco Noceti.  Perhaps most importantly, the circuit has become a major sailing event for winter sailing along Italy's western coastline and has been well-attended by many top teams in the Italian offshore circuit.

For this year, a "special prize" has been introduced that takes all the top sailors from all classes along with forty(!) Italian journalists (as crew) to compete for the "Championship of Champions" aboard J/80s sailing off Lavagna, Italy at the conclusion of the regatta-- it will mark the ending of the Gulf of Tigullio Winter Championship 2012/ 2013.  One hopes there will be plenty of "GoPro" video afterwards of the crews performing amazing maneuvers in cramped spaces and with lots of colorful language describing how well the spinnaker came down at a mark-rounding while getting pin-wheeled outside of a dozen boats!

The Tigullio Winter Championship Finals will take place from March 9 to 10, 2013. All of the nine winning teams will challenge aboard J/80s provided by Blue Project.  Blue Project's primary intention is to organize the Championship of the Champions every year to promote this unique, fascinating, spectacular sport of sailing and, furthermore, to help promote and support the J/80 class in Italy.

For more Blue Project Championship of Champions sailing and promo information, please contact Ivana Quattrini at email- ivanaquattrini@concepteventi.it or go to the Blue Project event website.

J/80s Sailing Tigullio Winter Championship

(Tigullio, Italy)- Over December and January, the J/80 fleet in Italy hosts their annual "Winter Championship".  A lavishly fun event with plenty of great food and wine and, given some decent weather, even some good sailing!

On the first day of sailing, the wind Gods, of course, didn't cooperate, so everyone had a wonderful time tasting delicious local pastas, antipastos and vino blanco y roja.  However, on the second day, two races were run in excellent conditions off Lavagna.  Winds were around 10-12 kts from the south in a reasonably warm, gentle breeze.

Massimo Rama's JENIALE ran off a string of five first places, leading at the end of the weekend with a good margin over their rivals. Behind the battle for first place, Signori Tye sailing TWT is solidly in second place with four 2nds and a 5th for a total of 13 pts.  Maria Cristinia Rapisardi sailing her J-BLUE-2 is quickly becoming one of Italy's top women sailors in J/80s, amassing a 3-4-3-2-7 to just hold onto 3rd place with 19 pts.   Just behind her in fourth is Alberto Garribotto on J-BES with 7-3-4-3-3 for 20 pts and in fifth is Andrea Henriquet on J-BLUE-6 with a 4-6-6-6-5 tally for 27 pts.  The final round that takes place on the weekend of January 13.  For more J/80 Italian Winter sailing information.

And, speaking of J/80s, check out the "iSea tracker" video of the French J/80 Nationals in Douarnenez, France.  It's interesting to hear the excited French voice-over commenting on the J/80s sailing around the track.  Watch the YouTube J/80 tracker sailing video here.

J/80 BlueProject Sailing Italy!

(Lavagna, Italy)- Team-building and leadership development on J/80s on the sunny, warm Mediterranean?  Yes, it can be done.  Michele Rayneri at BLUEPROJECT SAILING ITALY has this to offer to fellow J/80 sailors and fellow J sailing enthusiasts in the corporate world:

"Dear J friends and enthusiasts,  warm greetings from Michele Rayneri- At BLUEPROJECT, we are passionate about sailing and we have been in the business of getting people out on the water for many years.  Our fleet is made up of  nine J/80 one-design sailboats and our team is extremely experienced and has gained experience in very important international regattas.

BLUEPROJECT sees sailing as a vital corporate event and provides tailored programs: professional coaching, instruction, and innovative team building, incentive and leadership development programs.

We are dedicated to actively promoting sailing at all levels through clinics, lectures and events and, in particular, improving sailing performance on keelboats by sailing the J/80.

Our team teaches the basics of sailing whilst working as a team including: navigation, sail trimming, boat handling skills, how to work and communicate together whilst also providing team building games. Individually, each team member benefits with improving: decision making, communication, leadership skills, being part of a team, self-confidence the need to build a strong, competitive and winning spirit!

BLUEPROJECT is situated in Port of Lavagna (Genoa), but we can organize events with our J/80s all over the Mediterranean Sea.  Lavagna is an ancient seaside village, a hidden treasure and great destination for everyone enjoying a yacht rental holiday along the Italian Riviera.  Lavagna is situated in the wonderful Gulf of Tigullio, between Portofino and Sestri Levante and not far from Genoa, Montecarlo and France. It is one of the most beautiful gulfs in Italy and offers facilities and situation for excellent sailing.

The coast is a sequence of marvelous villages with their marinas, pastel-coloured houses, first-rate sports facilities and the fashionable atmosphere of "la Dolce Vita".  The beauty of the seascapes, the intense blue of the sea and the green mountains are breathtaking.

In Lavagna there are good sea food restaurants, quality beaches and a medieval, charming town centre.  A yachting vacation to the Italian Riviera can definitely be made much more enjoyable and a lot of fun with BLUEPROJECT.  For more info please visit- http://www.blueprojectsailing.it   Or, call mobile +39 335 8093904 or email- ivanaquattrini@concepteventi.it

Spain Sweeps J/80 Worlds

(Dartmouth, England)- At a constant wind speed of 33 knots coupled with swells in excess of 4 metres (12 feet plus) across the race area had necessitated the decision to abandon racing for the day and for the regata. An excited round of applause rang around the Race HQ as the assembled fleet congratulated the new J/80 World Champions: Jose Maria van der Ploeg and his crew on board NILFISK: Luis Mas, Juan Merayo, Hugo Ramon and twelve year old Jose ‘Junior’ van der Ploeg.  A sweet and well-deserving victory for this family crew!

The nine races sailed at The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM each delivered a different winner: a fact that is testament to the level of competition on the race-track within the International J/80 Class. Van der Ploeg’s team on NILFISK never conceded a single result outside of the top 14 boats during the course of the regatta but nor did he finish a race within the top two. Skilled consistency in crew work, boat handling, tactics and intelligent regatta strategy delivered a World Championship win for NILFISK with a four point lead over the second placed boat, Rayco Tabares’ Hotel Princesa Yaiza and six points over third place Carlos Martinez’ Mapfre.

All 76 J/80s were de-rigged and lifted back on to their road trailers on Friday afternoon along Dartmouth ’s North Embankment so that 350 competitors could rush home to spruce themselves up in advance of the Closing Ceremony and Prize-giving Dinner scheduled for Friday evening. The venue for the closing ceremony (by virtue of the fact that the Britannia Yacht Club shared the hosting of the World Championship with the Royal Dart Yacht Club) was Britannia Royal Naval College .

Competitors enjoyed dinner, wine and a fair few tots of SLAM-buca on Friday night in the stunning surroundings of The Senior Gun Room and The Ward Room at the college before moving on to the official Prize-giving Ceremony which was held on The Quarterdeck. Prizes were presented to the top ten boats at the MIQ Logistics 2012 World Championship Powered by SLAM. Several British J/80 teams featured in the role-call: Kevin Sproul’s J.A.T finished in fourth, Robert Larke’s J2X took sixth place, Simon Ling’s RAF benevolent Fund Team Spitfire finished ninth overall and Simon Johnson and Ruairidh Scott’s Joyeuse finished tenth overall. The largest piece of silverware presented on the night war Rennie and Ruth Miller’s J/80 One-Design Cup which went to Sproul and his team from J.A.T who were the best performing British team at the Worlds. Special prizes from Allspars of Plymouth were awarded the best performing furthest travelled boat, which went to Andrew Moore’s Tigrina from Hong Kong and to stalwart supporter of the J/80 UK Class, Scott Cole and his team on Purple Haze.

At the Prizegiving Commodore Simon Williams of Britannia Royal Naval College explained how much the college had enjoyed being involved with the World Championship and without need to recourse to spoken word his presence at the Ceremony meant that all competitors were duly reminded what an honour and privilege it was to take part in such an auspicious event in such dramatic and historic surroundings.

Paul Heys of Key Yachting thanked Britannia Royal Naval College , Mike Moody and his team at the Royal Dart Yacht Club, the PRO Mike Pearson, the massive team of volunteer helpers and all of the sponsors of the event: Principal Sponsors MIQ Logistics and SLAM. Supporting Sponsors Baltic Wharf, Brittany Ferries, Coast Graphics and Dart Harbour and Prize Sponsors Allspars, Café Alf Resco, Chandlery.co.uk, Lifedge by Scanstrut, Paul Barclay, Rowbury Gallery and the Royal Castle Hotel.  Dancing and celebrations continued in to the small hours of Saturday morning.    Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright- http://www.photoaction.com  For more J/80 Worlds sailing information

JOCONDA Triumphs in Marina Yachting Trophy

(Chiavari, Italy)- This past weekend, the Yacht Club Chiavari played hosted to sixty five boats on the water in classes that ranged from IRC and ORC to one-designs like J/80s.  In the end, the J/80s did incredibly well against all of their counterparts on the water racing for the Trofeo Marina Yachting.

Saturday had little wind forecast from Southeast.  Nevertheless, the starting was aggressive and complicated by the different pressures on the field of play towards the first mark. Despite the poor start, Daniela Magistro sailing JOCONDA ended up doing well in the first race. The right side paid for JENIALE, enough to close the distance to first, but unable to overtake his opponent. The wind dropped off for the last race of the day, but with the same results for 1st and 2nd.  Afterwards, there was a "great happy hour at the YCC until dinner", according to one competitor.

On Sunday were totally different weather conditions, waiting for the thermal wind to overcome the light north wind.  By mid-day the wind had risen to 15-17 knots with some great racing.  This time JENIALE! took first with JOCONDA second, with COCCHI, JBES and MONTPRES filling out the top five, respectively.  For the second race of the day, in similar conditions, the entire fleet lined up and locked-in battle to the first mark- essentially a close reach with no gennakers.  In the end, it was JOCONDA again the quickest, having a sweet burst of speed and taking a well-deserved victory.  Congratulations to Daniela Magistro for a job well done!  For more J/80 Italy sailing information

JOCONDA Scoops Italian J/80 Winter Championship

(Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy)- Over the course of the four weekend winter series held on the beautiful waters and bay off Santa Margherita and Portofino, Italy, it was pretty clear that JOCONDA was sailing strongly and was determined to finish well in their series.

The regional J/80 fleet saw testing conditions over the course of the series, with relatively light breezes from the southern sea-breeze quadrants most of the time.  In the end, with eleven races sailed,  JOCONDA won the Winter Championship Trophy Miramare!

In second place in both rankings was JENIALE, which was lacking in consistency and good performance.  MONTPRES was sailing well and managed to sail to third place while J-BES managed a fourth.
For more J/80 Italian Sailing information

J/80 Italy Winter Championship

(Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy)- The J/80 class in Italy continues to enjoy a passionate following of sailors, much like their J/24 brothers.  This year, the J/80 Winter Champion was JOCONDA.  After sailing four weekends (from February to April 1), the local J/80 fleet was pleased to have lots of races on the water in front of the Hotel Miramare and the beautiful bay of Santa Margherita (just around the corner from a very famous sailing "water-hole" known as Portofino).

The racing was tight for the fleet but it was clear that JOCONDA's team had the upper hand over this year's winter sailing season.  After 11 races JOCONDA proved they were worthy of being crowned the Winter Champions of the Trofeo Miramare.  In second place was class evangelist and long-time support JENIALE!  Third in the standings was MONTPRES.  For more J/80 Italy sailing information

J/80 Winter Championship Santa Margherita Ligure

(Santa Margherita, Italy)- Just down around the corner of the famous little harbor called Portofino lies the cosmopolitan town called Santa Margherita.  Some may think it's renowned for that Italian pizza called "pizza margherita" (tomato, basil and mozzarella), but it is perhaps more famous for some of the great sailors that have come out of this corner of Italy.  Locally, the J/80 class has grown over time and have a loyal, highly devoted, following of sailors who often enjoy their winter sailing as much as their summer sailing.  Winter offers LOTS of wind, for the most part better sailing versus the rather sybaritic, laid back sailing often seen in the summers.

After the first of their series of Winter Championship races, which has seen everything one might imagine for weather, the J/80 teams still turn out to have some fun! Perhaps the best part is that after going around the course for the last race of the day, the teams finish off the Grand Hotel Miramare and retire for great food and drink afterwards.  One can only imagine.  Pizza margherita?  Maybe.  Calzone, better.  Delicious chianti red wine, much better.  Toss in some locally, fresh caught, spicy calamari-- the best!

So far, JOCONDA sailed by Paco Rebaudi is leading the fleet, followed by J-BES GARIBOTTO skippered by Enrica Bertini and in third the most famous, long-distance traveler, JENIALE RAMA.   For more Italian J/80 Winter Championship sailing information

J/80 + SLAM for Worlds 2012

(Darmouth, England)- SLAM UK has this week confirmed major sponsorship support for the 2012 J/80 World Championship, which will now be "Powered by SLAM". The regatta will take place between the 9th and 15th of June and will be jointly hosted by the Britannia Yacht Club, the Royal Dart Yacht Club and the J/80 UK Class Association.  Both the Opening Ceremony and the Prize-giving Ceremony for 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM will take place at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon.

In addition to significant financial support for the regatta, the partnership with cutting edge sportswear company SLAM UK will bring style, flair and inimitable glamour to the event, along with real and quantifiable added value for the competitors of the 80 teams which are predicted to travel to the UK this summer to compete. Not only will competitors be able to enjoy the tangible benefits of SLAM UK’s investment in the Championship, but they will also witness first-hand the competitive edge afforded on the race-track by this technologically advanced clothing range; Chris Ducker, owner of SLAM UK, will also be racing his brand new J/80 at the Worlds.

Chris Ducker explained his passion for SLAM and his commercial desire to be involved at a grass roots level with the J/80 Worlds: ‘I am delighted to have an opportunity to work with the Key Yachting team and for SLAM to sponsor the 2012 J/80 Worlds; this will certainly be a fantastic event on and off the water. I look forward enormously to sailing and socializing in the J/Community throughout the 2012 season.’

At the London Boat Show in January, SLAM UK was appointed official clothing partner of Key Yachting Ltd.  Paul Heys , Managing Director of Key Yachting explained ‘There is a strong parallel between the design credentials of the SLAM technological clothing range and J/Boats, not least in the fundamentally intelligent and performance oriented design. I’ve worn SLAM kit on the water for a number of years and it unfailingly delivers the results one expects. This new partnership is great for Key Yachting and it will also prove extremely valuable to our clients during the coming year. Competitors at the 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM have a real treat in store.’

Entries for the 2012 J/80 World Championship are rolling in at serious pace now. The online entry system at http://www.j80worlds2012.com is easy to use, the entry fee represents real value for money and Brittany Ferries has offered discounted pricing for J/80 teams traveling to the UK from the continent. February may be frosty but the competition in Dartmouth in June is looking hotter than ever.

For those of you who may not be familiar with SLAM's participation in sailing, their mission is to conceive, test, and produce advanced technology sportswear in order to improve the performance of sailors and to create a nautically-inspired sportswear collection for everyone with a passion for the sea.  Selected by many of the world's top sailors and competitive racing teams, SLAM sailing gear not only protects against the worst of the weather but, at the same time, allows for maximum comfort and freedom of movement.  You can learn more about SLAM's sailing products here- http://www.slamuk.com

For more information on the J/80 Sportsboat or the 2012 World Championship Powered by SLAM, please contact Becci Eplett of the J/80 UK Class Association at becci@keyyachting.com.

CO-PILOTES Dominates French J/80 Nationals

(Saint Cast, France)- The record fleet of seventy-four boats were treated to a superb weekend of sailing in the 2011 French J/80 Nationals, hosted in Saint Cast along the Bay of Biscay by Centre Nautique Saint Cast.  The event also marked the "changing of the guard" amongst the leaders in the French fleet.  Many of the top teams that had been dominating the standings all season long found themselves fighting for contention at the top of the fleet.  A new leader emerged that probably surprised everyone in the fleet, the team of CO-PILOTES for YC Granville won sailed by the team of Benoit Charon, Christian Ponthieu, Gael Fichet and Olivier Camebourg.  And, they won BIG!  Twenty four points big after seven races!

The first day of racing dawned with spectacular sailing conditions.  Gorgeous weather, moderate breeze, sunny.  Most importantly, the 74 boat strong fleet managed to get in three races on the first day.  It was an impressive level of competition.  At the end of the first day, the leader-board saw Yannick Le Clech's COTE D'ARMOR BLANC in first with an 8-2-5, followed by Charon's CO-PILOTES in second with a 2-13-4 and Clement Guihot's APCC J-PRANGOO in third with a 7-6-15.  Clearly, high scores for all in the top three.

Day two was a tough day for most teams.  Only two races were sailed that put a premium on getting clear lanes, clear air and to the correct side of the course.  Large gains and losses happened to many of the teams.   After a delay due to the presence of haze, driven by the wind, the fleet sailed in light ESE winds from 2 to 9 knots under clear skies and mild temperatures.  A pretty day for sailing, but tough on the tacticians!  There was a tremendous premium on getting off the starting to get to where you needed to go.  And, the multiple general recalls only heightened the anxiety for the top skippers in the fleet.  After the clouds of dust cleared from the battlefield, a new leader emerged to lead the pack, Charon's CO-PILOTES overcame great odds to win both races!  Dropping back significantly was Le Clech's COTE D'ARMOR BLANC with a 9-DSQ.  Ascending rapidly up the ladder was Quentin Ponroy's JIINGLE with a record of 3-10-24-12-7, good for third overall going into the final day of racing.

The third and last day of the French J/80 Nationals was an opportunity for the committee to launch two nice races in a 12-15 knot wind, an ideal setting for the final, determining races in the regatta. The best performances of the day went to top French women skipper, Christine Briand, racing J'ILE DE RE to a 5-6, and also to Simon Moriceau sailing INTERFACE CONCEPT III to an 8-2.  As a result, the top five again saw a significant change in the standings as some of the top French teams all season long prevailed in their consistency to stay in the top ten in most races.  Sailing a superb regatta, and "congratulations" to his team, was Benoit Charon's CO-PILOTES from YC Granville, finishing out with a 7-10 for just 25 points after 7 races!  Behind them in second was Nicolas Troussel's BRETAGNE CREDIT MUTUEL with a record of 14-8-33-11-2-1-13 for 49 pts (drop included).  Third was Quentin Ponroy's JIINGLE, fourth was Christine Briand's J'ILE DE RE and fifth was top French sailor at the J/80 Worlds, Eric Brezellec on the familiar INTERFACE CONCEPT II.

Congratulations to the CNSC Race Committee for getting off seven excellent races over the three days.  Not an easy task considering the conditions of the wind, current and the aggressiveness of the fleet that caused a number of general recalls.    Sailing photo credits- Luc LeGrand/ Fox Images  For more French J/80 Nationals sailing information

J/80 Wins Dollorso Open Cup

(Chiavari, Italy)-  This past weekend, the Yacht Club Chiavari hosted their annual Dollorso Open Cup with over seventy boats participating in ORC, IRC and Multihull classes.

With refreshments and award ceremony in the presence of the Family Dollorso, Aldermen of the City of Chiavari and Mr. Segalerba Rombolini and representatives of TCI, it was the J/80 JENIALE! sailed by Massimo Rama from YC Chiavari that won the huge Open Class!  Massimo receive the much revered trophy, the Silver Plaque Nicholas Dollorso.

The first day of racing took place on Saturday in sunny weather, calm seas and extremely variable breeze. The second day of racing, the return in Chiavari, took place on Sunday, in a beautiful summer day, with calm seas and gentle breezes-- as a result, not many boats finished within the time limit.  For more Copa Dollorso sailing information

  

Spanish Teams Sweep J/80 Worlds

Camino, VDP, Martinez, Tabares Go 1-2-3-4!
(Copenhagen, Denmark- July 8th)-  As one of the world's leading one-design keelboat classes, this year's J/80 World Championships did not disappoint.  With sixty-eight competitors participating in a world-class regatta sailed by some of the top sailors in the world, most sailors expected the top Europeans to factor in amongst the leaders.  With multiple Olympic and World Champions participating as skippers or tacticians and the best sailors from Spain sailing as a team, too, it was also expected the Spanish teams would be amongst the leaders at the end of the regatta.  In fact, the script for this "movie" played out nearly the same as it has in past worlds.

The last day racing dawned with grey skies, easterly winds of 10 knots and rain pouring down in Dragor, but that was not going to stop the Royal Danish YC's PRO from pressing forward to complete yet another challenging World Championship.  One where the actors were nearly the same as in the past four championships, but with roles swapping as to the new "cinderella story" and who would be the "new sheriff in town" for 2011.

After four days and nine races of excellent sailing in conditions that saw light to moderate winds for the entire event, it was clear the Spanish sailors are not only fast in a big breeze and big waves, they're also quite fast and smart in shifty, wind streak, "drag race-type" sailing conditions on the Baltic Sea where the winds never exceeded 12 knots!  Showing their extraordinary versatility was the new sheriff, World Champion for 2011, Ignacio Camino's team sailing their renown NEXTEL ENGINEERING to a very well deserved win over some extremely tough competition.  Ignacio and crew only had to get two good top 10 finishes on the last day to win, finishing with a 4-6 to win his second J/80 World Championship, the second Spanish sailor in a row to do so (countryman Pichu Torcida won the 2010 J/80 Worlds in Newport, RI in epic conditions).  They finished with a total score of 34 points to win by 10 points over the second place boat.

The Cinderella (and family) story of this year's Worlds has to be the remarkable comeback of Jose Maria van deer Ploeg (a.k.a. "VDP") sailing his boat GREAT SAILNG. Jose started off the series on the first day barely in the top 20 with a 27-17-11, disappointing to say the least.  Thereafter, from day two to day four, Jose's team (including his young son) simply smoked the fleet!  Perhaps, near total domination and a "schooling" of the fleet may be a better perspective regards how well Jose's team sailed the last six races.  How about a scoreline against Olympic medallists and World Champs in multiple classes that would be the envy of any team sailing in Dragor-- a 5-1-5-2-2-1 to finish with 44 points and win a tie-breaker with another Spanish team-mate Carlos Martinez (himself a former World Champion).  Proof that "family teams" can be competitive at a world-class level in one of the world's premiere one-design keelboats!

Third in the Spanish sweep of the podium was Carlos Martinez racing MAPFRE with his very strong, well-practiced team.  Carlos' team was yet another Spanish team that raced up the ladder after a disastrous first day, starting with a 3-26-4, to then finish off the series with an average of 6th place to finish with 44 points and lose the tie-breaker to Jose Maria!

Fourth yet another Spanish J/80 World Champion, Rayco Tabares and crew on HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA GRAND CANARIAS, the same boat he's raced for years.  Amongst the top five, it was apparent that Rayco was the most despondent after the first day's racing- starting off with a disastrous 4-9-52.  Nevertheless, Rayco has proven to be a strong, indomitable competitor, and his "never say die" attitude serves him well.  Rayco's team confidently bounced back to be the only team to score back-to-back 1st places in races 7 & 8 to jump higher than most kangaroos and finish with 53 points.  In fact, had Rayco pulled off a miracle and finished in the top three in the last race, he would've finished 2nd overall!

Perhaps the "hard luck" award has to go to American Glenn Darden, yet another J/80 World Champion, sailing with his veteran team aboard LE TIGRE.  After starting off strongly to lead the regatta for the first two days, a lapse in race 7 on the third day was too much for them to absorb to stay in contention for the top three.  Now having to count both an 18th and 15th, Glenn's team nevertheless showed the rest of the world the LE TIGRE team is never to be counted out in the final results.  After getting the second best record of the final day behind Jose Maria's 2-1, LE TIGRE's 5-2 bounced them back up the ladder to fifth place overall with 56 points.

If Glenn's LE TIGRE team fell on some hard luck in some races, so too the same can be said for Sweden's Ingemar Sundstedt SWE 243.  Sundstedt was lying second going into the last day with a very good chance of being the first Swedish team to win the J/80 Worlds, especially since their worst race up to the last day was a 14th and their average finish was about 6th place, the most consistent team on the race course for the first three days!  However, the first race of the last day erased all chances of that happening, finishing with a 27th, then followed by a 7th in the last race to end the regatta with 58 points and finish 6th overall.

Finally, mention should be made of the very strong showing by the top French teams, Eric Brezellec on INTERFACE CONCEPT 2, the current French J/80 National Champion, finishing 7th and Jean Charles Moriceau finishing 8th!  Furthermore, it was also the first time the German teams showed both good boat-speed and good tactics, getting the next four places in the standings!  German teams finished 9th- Sven Vagt's GER 1027, 10th- Martin Menzner's GER 614 (a regatta leader on Day One), 11th- Bjorn Beilken's GER 1107 and 12th- Malte Christopherson's GER 745.   Top Danish team from the host country was Jesper Kragh Jespersen's DEN 850 in 13th, the top Italian team was Massimo Rama's EXTREME SAILING TEAM beating fellow Italian Aldo Samele's CANARINO FEROCE 2 by a HALF point! The top Russian team was Vitaliy Tarakanov RUS 999 in 29th, top British team was Tom Phipps' HAMBLE YACHT SERVICES in 32nd, top Polish team was Pawel Boksa's POL 1187 in 39th, top Netherlands team was Laura Vroon's NED 831 in 36th, top Estonian team was Peeter Meressaar's EST 603 in 56th and top Finnish team was Otto Reittila FIN 1144 in 64th.

In the final analysis, the racing was extraordinarily close going into the last day, as has been the case for at least the past four J/80 World Championships.  Excellent world-class sailing by the top fifteen, at least.  What was interesting was to see the depth of the teams that could pull off a top three finish during the course of the regatta, particularly in conditions where hitting corners often did NOT pay-off.  The top three podium finishes only accounted for 8 top three finishes (of a potential 27 possible!) and only four 1st places (just 44% of the 9 races!).  That's stunning fleet depth.  Moreover, the only teams that could get two first places in the series were the winner, Ignacio Camino's NEXTEL ENGINEERING and Rayco Tabares' HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA GRAND CANARIAS.  The lowest placing race winner (race #4) was Frenchman Luc Nadal who finished 24th; lowest place 2nd (race #5) was the Danish/American team of GULDFAXE (Tom Klok, Will/Marie Crump and Will Welles) in 17th overall.  Lowest place 3rd (race #2) was Italian Naval Academy Sailing Team's Giorgio Guzzi who finished 37th.  There are few, if any, international one-design keelboat/ sportboat classes of any kind that can demonstrate that kind of fleet depth and ability to sail a boat fast enough, easily enough to fire one into the top three in any given race! That's cool.  Moreover, a "family boat", finished second overall- the father/son team aboard Jose Maria van deer Ploeg's GREAT SAILING-- that's even cooler.

The two women's teams faired well considering the depth of the competition, the best was TEAM MALTESERS ("The Sweeter Side of Sailing"), Gritt Bjornshave's five women team on DEN 1176 getting three finishes in the 20s and finishing 43rd overall.  Sailing Photo credits: Peter Sogaard Photos      For more J/80 Worlds sailing information

  

Spanish Sailing Top of the J/80 Worlds- Day Three

(Copenhagen, Denmark- July 7th)- Once again the third day of sailing for the J/80 Worlds started off with a postponement.  The announcement this time was for races to start at 12:30 pm.  It was "moving day" as it is often in many major regattas, time to move up or down the leader-board or else forget winning. 

After seven races, the Spanish contingent (the three past J/80 World Champions and Olympic Champion) all made huge moves into the top spots, now occupying four of the top five positions!  Leading the charge is Ignacio Camino's NEXTEL ENGINEERING, scoring a 1-5 to take a 5 point lead after three days of sailing.  Fellow Spanish sailor Carlos Martinez's MAPFRE leapt into second overall after posting a 4-4 to for a total of 29 points.  Perhaps sailing the most consistent regatta of all teams is the Swedish sailing champion Ingemar Sundstedt, posting an 8-8 score to secure third overall with 37 points.  Within striking distance of the top three is Canary Islander Rayco Tabares sailing HOTEL GRAND CANARIAS, posting a 3-1 for the best record of the day and catapulting himself into 4th place, just two points back from Sundstedt and only 13 points from first place! 

Perhaps the story of the regatta so far has to be the ascent of Jose Maria van der Ploeg sailing GREAT SAILING.  Jose's team started out very, very slow in the first three races with a 27-17-11.  Nevertheless, Jose's team got their act together and figured out not only how to get off the starting line, but sail very solid races to post the best record of the fleet for the past four races, getting a 5-1-5-2 to place themselves in 5th place overall with only 41 pts, just two points back from Tabares and also having a shot at a podium finish.

Eric Brezellec's IC2 TEAM

Yesterday's leader, American Glenn Darden on LE TIGRE, simply had a classic "hard luck" day, managing to only get a 15-30 and has to count to finishes in the teens to drop from 1st place and, like the classic board game of "Chutes and Ladders", dropped down the chute so far that they now lie in 7th place.  Rounding out the top ten are Jean Charles Moriceau from France, posting a 2-9 score to move up into 6th overall with 49 points.  In 8th is the German team from Kieler Woche led by Martin Menzner with 60.5 points, 9th is Eric Brezellec's INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 team with 68 points and 10th is another German team, Bjorn Beilken with 71 points.

Of note, the top Danish team from the host country is Jesper Kragh Jespersen lying in 14th, the top Italian team is Aldo Samele on CANARINO FEROCE in 15th place, top Russian team is Vitaliy Tarakanov in 21st, top British team is Tom Phipps in 25th, top Polish team is Pawel Boksa in 36th, top Netherlands team is Laura Vroon in 43rd, top Estonian team is Peeter Meressaar in 59th and top Finnish team is Otto Reittila in 63rd.

MALTESER Team Girls

The racing on the final day sounds very similar to the past four J/80 World Championships.  All very, very close racing with at least 6-7 boats having a mathematical chance to win the entire Worlds overall!  At this level of world-class sailing, you simply cannot have any closer racing than what these teams are experiencing.  Friday will surely dawn with a lot of anxious skippers and tacticians pondering the best strategies to go win the regatta while avoiding any kind of massive mistakes.  What's unusual is that the only boat in the top ten with a toss race under 15th place is the Swedish team of Ingemar Sundstedt, every other team has toss races in the 20s, 30s or higher!  Friday will be an interesting day and the champion that arises like a Phoenix from the smoke of battle will be a well-deserved J/80 World Champion.

Sailing Photo credits: Peter Sogaard Photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/petersogaardphoto2

For more J/80 Worlds sailing information
http://worlds.kdy.dk/index.php4